Pros And Cons Of Nuclear Fission

For almost a century, governments have been trying to use nuclear products to their advantage. In the second world war, the United States dropped an atomic bomb in the city of Hiroshima, Japan which showed the world the extent of nuclear power for the first time. Since then, many global powers have worked to improve the atomic bomb and hydrogen bomb. In addition countries have been using nuclear fission to produce useful power. Today, 20% of the power in the United States is nuclear. The problem with nuclear fission is that the process requires plutonium, which is environmentally costly to produce. The waste generated from the production of plutonium called radioactive waste gives off gamma radiation. This radiation directly leads to severe

The waste produced by nuclear fission remains hazardous for thousands of years, which means that if there were a leak or someone were to dig up a forgotten repository in the year 4000, they waste would still be incredibly radioactive. This is a major issue in the solution because it is very possible that someone will come across an old repository in the distant future, but the waste will still be harmful. Nonetheless, up to this point the success rates of the few existing nuclear repositories are very good. Almost never have scientists proven that a repository is unsafe after its construction. Another current point of issue for the US government is the financial support required to build and use repositories. Economically, the solution could very well lead to other problems. The cost to build a radioactive waste repository can cost 100 billion US dollars, and that amount excludes the cost of operations and the expenses of preparation. Therefore, a repository could have a very bad effect on the economy of the country. A good comparison is the Hoover Dam in the southwestern United States which was constructed in the 1930’s. It came with a mortgage of 140 million US dollars (1.4 times the amount of a repository) and took over 50 years to pay off. If the same can be expected for a repository, then one could argue that the solution is horrible for the